The History of the Kingdom of Ios
The History of Ios: The 1st Era (0 C.E. - 79 C.E.) The Kingdom of Ios traces its origins 699 years ago after the first settlers arrived in the Isles of Ios from their homeland of Arteria. Arteria was a large continent to the west which was experiencing a bloody civil war at the time, causing many settlers to flee deeper into the continent or out into the ocean. Some of the settlers who chose to explore the ocean landed on the Isles of Ios. Many different bands of refugees settled in the Isles. The largest settlement was created on the island which would come to be known as The First Isle, on the banks of the river Voltavia, where it flowed into the sea. It was called New Hope. Arteria continued to be ravaged by civil war, and the eruption of a virulent plague caused many more people to flee Arteria. This second wave of settlers caused the Arterians to change from a small fringe group in Ios to an important force near the coasts. Ios had been populated before. Peopole who called themselves the Ionians or "The People of Io" had settled most of the Islands of Ios thousands of years before the settlers from Arteria arrived. The Ionians where roughly divided into three cultural groups. The Jomar group that inhabited The Riverlands, The First Isle, and The Blue Lands, were very suspicious of the Arterians, and generally did not trade with them. The individual Jomar tribes frequently warred with the Arterians over land, repeatedly leading to their displacement or destruction. The Mesulan people who inhabited Dounain and the Western Isles had been severely reduced by a plague introduced from Arteria by the settlers, which only mildly affected the Jomar to their North. This depopulation resulted in the previously submissive cultures, mainly the Doun and the Pycts, to retake their former territory and re-establish their dominace in the area known as the "Southern Tip". In the eastern North Isle, and the islands to the East and North, the Mynar people did not interact to any large degree with the Arterians until the settlers decided to explore their lands. The rough terrain of the Mynar lands to cause few Arterians to settle there, and the Mynar repelled the few who did. The Mynar people still persist in the eastern North Isle and the associated islands. The Ionians beleived in a god called Io who taught the people how to use the land and the virtues of honour, peace, and loyalty. This religion spread through the Arterian settlers very quickly. In the areas where the Arterians interacted with the Ionians peacefully, the two cultures traded goods and information very freely. The Ionians taught the Arterians many more advanced farming techniques specific to the plants of the Islands of Ios. And the Arterians taught the Ionians advanced technologies such as metalworking and shipbuilding, and introduced them to horses, which had previously not been present in the Isles. The Arterian maesters learned much from the Ionians, vastly increasing their knowledge of healing, and giving them the knowledge required to use birds to transport messages. By the end of the First Era, the demographics of the Isles of Ios had been stabalized, and large kingdoms developed around the larger groups of settlers and natives. These groups evovled into the current major and minor houses of Ios. The creation of the House of Arnor on the First Isles and the unification of Ios after the invasion by Elitiel from Arteria signaled the transition to the 2nd Era. The 2nd Era (79 C.E. - 421 C.E.) The Lands of Ios came under the control of 7 great families through the creation of alliances and shrewd diplomacy. These 7 Noble Houses were all in control of independent kingdoms, and each reigned as kings in their lands. By the end of the Second Era, only two of the original seven great Noble Houses remained. Five had been destroied in the wars and intruiges of the second era. However, other great powers had quickly risen to fill their places, and with the new families all in allegiance to the Noble House Arnor, the Third Era began. The 3rd Era (421 C.E. - )